Wikimedia:About/en

Wikimedia Canada is a nonprofit organization committed to the growth, development and distribution of free knowledge in Canada.

The association was founded 10 November 2010 under the legal name "Wiki Canada". On 24 May 2011, Wikimedia Canada was accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation as the thirty-third local chapter of the movement. The Wikimedia Foundation is an American registered charity that runs a number of online projects with the goal of freely distributing human knowledge in more than than 270 languages. The best known of these projects is the encyclopedia Wikipedia, which is one of the ten most-visited websites in the world.

Wikimedia Canada is a member-based organization managed by a board of directors elected by the members. Membership is open to any Canadian citizen or other person legally entitled to reside in Canada for a period of at least one year.

Mission

To aid and encourage people to collect, develop and disseminate knowledge and other educational, cultural and historic content in the public domain or under a license that allows everyone to freely use, distribute and modify said content without the payment of royalties.

To collaborate with public and private Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums in making their holdings more broadly and freely available to those interested in an effort to preserve the heritage of Canada.

To make use of, encourage the use of, and instruct people in the use of free and open source information resources; either electronic or printed for the advancement of education.

To encourage the development and release of these materials in the languages of Canada including but not limited to English, French, and the First Nation's languages.